HOUSTON — USA Baseball started off the World Baseball Classic with a victory inside the home of the Houston Astros. Team USA defeated Brazil 15-5 in their WBC Pool B opener inside Daikin Park on Friday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. led off with a single and then stole second base on a strikeout by Bryce Harper. New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge blasted a pitch by Bo Takahashi into the seats above the bullpen for a two-run home run.
Brazil got on the board in the bottom of the frame as Lucas Ramirez — son of former All-Star slugger Manny Ramirez — hit a leadoff home run off of Logan Webb. The San Francisco Giants ace would settle down and get the next three hitters, including striking out Dante Bichette Jr.
Team USA threatened in the second as Milwaukee Brewers star Brice Turang got on with a one-out double and was joined on the basepaths by Witt Jr. and Harper, who both drew walks. Judge came to the plate, but 17-year-old Joseph Contreras — son of 2005 World Series champion Jose Contreras — got the star slugger to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Team USA did push a run across in the third.
Kyle Schwarber got on with a leadoff single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Former Houston Astros and LSU star Alex Bregman grounded out, but Schwarber advanced to third. Cal Raleigh drew a walk, and Schwarber scored on a wild pitch by Contreras.
Team USA added to its lead in the fifth inning.
Raleigh, Bregman, and Roman Anthony all drew one-out walks to load the bases. Byron Buxton would be hit by a pitch to plate one run, and then Turang cleared the bases with a double off the left field scoreboard.
Brazil clawed back into the game in the bottom of the seventh.
Leonardo Reginatto led off with a single and then advanced to second on a wild pitch by Michael Wacha. He would score a few batters later on a single by Lucas Rojo. Victor Mascai then launched a ball into the Crawford Boxes to make it a three-run game.
Team USA got a run back in the top of the eighth as Judge scored on a single by Anthony. Brazil answered in the bottom of the frame with a solo home run by Ramirez.
Team USA added a run in the top of the ninth as Harper got his first hit of the night, a one-out single that brought home Turang.
That sparked a bit of a downward spiral for Brazil. Team USA would draw four straight walks, then Anthony hit a single, Chicago Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong drew another walk, and then Brazil was called for a balk, which drove in another run. Team USA would score seven runs in the frame.
BIG NUMBER: 8
Team USA improved its record against Brazil to 8-0. The two countries first met on the diamond at the 1999 Pan American Games, and the USA has won every game since, including games in the Americas Series, the World Cup, and Olympic qualifying.
BIG NUMBER II: 13
Team USA had no trouble getting runners on base and scoring runs, but they still left plenty of them there. Team USA left a total of 13 runners on base, while Brazil left only two.
PLAYERS OF THE GAME: BRICE TURANG & LOGAN WEBB
Turang went 3-for-6 with a bases-clearing three-run double and a run scored and 4 RBI, while Webb overcame a first-inning solo homer as he gave up the one run on one hit, striking out six in four innings of work.
UP NEXT: USA (1-0) will take on Great Britain (0-1) in another pool play game on Saturday. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.